Digital synergy: maximize your results with an integrated strategy

These three marketing techniques each have a specific goal:

• SEO gives you visibility with users by positioning the right content with the right query.

• Social media promote the brand, product or service to the right person at the right time.

• Loyalty marketing creates and manages lasting customer relationships. 

Together, these techniques let you offer an engaging and optimal customer experience. By looking at various stages of the customer journey, we’ll see why it’s important for these elements to work in synergy.

From discovery to loyalty

Introducing your brand and gaining traffic is a great goal to achieve and can sometimes be the main purpose of a website. In most cases, the goal of traffic acquisition is for the purpose of achieving other goals, such as customer acquisition and, even better, the acquisition of loyal customers.

But unfortunately there is more than one step you need to take between acquisition and loyalty.

Guiding the user through the process to conversion

A well-planned SEO strategy lets you position your company where there is already a need. It lets you respond to queries from users with relevant content and to establish your first contact with them.

Depending on the level of user engagement in the purchase funnel, SEO might be the final acquisition channel.

• If the need is already well defined and you respond to it satisfactorily, the user may immediately be converted into a customer.

For example, a user is looking for a men’s waterproof winter coat. Google displays your range of products that fulfill these criteria in its search results, or even shows one product in particular. There is a possibility that the user lands on your site and already has an intention to purchase, and, if they are satisfied with your offer, will take action.

• If the need is not very well defined and the user discovers your site through informational content, the latter still works in favour of your brand recognition and consideration. Several studies show that better brand consideration improves conversions later on.

For example, a user is looking for advice on choosing the most appropriate coat. They might land on one of your blog articles on this topic. The user might then continue their search on your website and finish with a purchase or they may leave the site after obtaining the information they were looking for.

If the user doesn’t convert, other marketing methods might prove useful afterward to ensure you don’t lose a potential buyer. Retargeting and social media specifically are excellent channels for complementing SEO.

Once the user becomes a customer, the loyalty goal hasn’t yet been achieved. It’s rare for a single purchase to prove significant; you will need to offer them value again to create a true relationship between the customer and the brand.

The importance of data from conversion to loyalty

Whatever loyalty program you are using, SEO, which is often a major channel for acquisition of qualified traffic, can provide a valuable understanding of your customers by cross-referencing analytics data with search behaviour. And this can also be used to earn their loyalty.

Improving your understanding of your customer, segmenting users and establishing profiles of similar users will allow you to better understand customers’ needs and serve them to gain their loyalty.

Many online businesses are doing just that by highlighting complementary products derived from profiles of users who made the same purchase, for example, or even highlighting the most sought-after products (SEO data), the most popular products purchased or the highest ranked products (analytics data). Cross-referencing data will allow you to refine your understanding of targeted profiles and consumers of your brand in order to offer them a simple, enjoyable and singular experience that makes them want to return and sign up for a loyalty program with your brand. With the new legal framework introduced by Law 25, the collection of primary data and SEO will play key roles in understanding the consumer. 

Retargeting on social media as well as relationship marketing, such as emailing, are methods used to maximize your chances of earning loyalty and for gathering qualitative data such as opinions on experience or about a product.

From loyalty to discovery

Asking for a consumer’s opinion is a loyalty-generating technique that is rewarding both in terms of the user and for SEO.

Rewarding opinions to boost your SEO

Asking for a consumer’s opinion on a product or service in exchange for a special offer lets you engage them more deeply in a relationship with the brand while they are expressing their satisfaction. Beyond the involvement of the user, positive feedback plays an important role in the brand’s credibility amongst other users, but also with Google. Positive opinions, whether on platforms or sites such as TrustPilot or Google Business Profile, directly affect levels of trust in your website and contribute to improving your visibility, especially locally.

In the mobile era, local presence, whatever business you’re in, is a challenge you need to meet, otherwise you might be giving up your seat at the table to your competitors.

Even more highly regarded than opinions are recommendations, which are of utmost importance for acquiring new customers and for the popularity of the brand.

Increasing visibility through loyalty

A satisfied, loyal customer is likely to recommend the brand to other people. A recommendation is more valuable than an ad, despite the latter being influential. According to a study conducted in the U.S. by Nielsen, 33% of consumers surveyed would completely trust a recommendation, compared to only 13.8% for ads in newspapers.

Offering shareable content on social media or on other platforms and websites may allow you to increase your recommendations. This type of content will be more informational, thereby making a positive contribution to consideration of the brand. A video, tips that respond to popular search requests and engaging content are an ideal combination for driving sharing and therefore visibility of the brand, its popularity and traffic.

The popularity of a piece of content and of a brand, although contested as a ranking factor, is definitely a positive signal to Google, especially if this content attracts qualified traffic.

Review of additional resources for each strategy

SEO and social media will let you work on acquiring leads and new customers. Qualified traffic plays a role in your chance of making conversions, as with other ideas you should consider which form the focus of UX and CRO. Qualified traffic notably depends on relevant positioning based on the customer journey. Position yourself on the right query with the right content for SEO and promote the right content at the right time to the right person on social media.

Loyalty marketing will create a relationship between the customer and the brand so you can increase their engagement and grow with your customers as their needs evolve through the use of data.

As far as brand awareness and consideration are concerned, both play a complementary role and have important contributions to make.

Tracking the performance of organic traffic and analyzing consumer behaviour will let you improve and measure the ROI for SEO. Qualified traffic that brings value in the long term will be of paramount importance to developing your business and will testify to an effective SEO strategy.